Multi-use bag carrier, or loose/disparate item consolidator

ABSTRACT

An organizer for facilitating the arrangement and organization of plastic shopping bags in a shopping trip, also lending itself to the general organization and cohesion of items that are difficult to consolidate or unify. Included are a first elongated member and a second elongated member extending from the first elongated member. The first and second elongated members combine to define therewithin a space for accommodating at least portions of items, the first elongated member acting to accommodate a plurality of looped items thereabout, the second elongated member at an introduction gap for introducing looped items therethrough to the accommodating space. Further, the second elongated member is elastically deformable to alter a width of the introduction gap.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/804,891, filed on Jun. 15, 2006, and entitled,respectively, “Improved One-Piece Carrier”, the contents of which arehereby fully incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses problems relating to the arrangement andorganization of plastic shopping bags in a shopping trip, and morebroadly to the general organization and cohesion of items that aredifficult to consolidate or unify.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Grocery shopping, as an oft thankless domestic task, presents challengesin the realm of time management and overall convenience that are toonumerous to mention. Anything to make such a task easier or morepleasant would likely be highly welcome.

One oft encountered problem is in the efficient organization andmanagement of plastic grocery shopping bags. Normally, a shopper mustwrestle with great numbers of these as he or she is transporting filledplastic bags to his or her vehicle and, once home, from the vehicle tothe interior of his or her residence. This awkward and unwieldy task is,on many occasions, not helped in the least by grocery workers who seemcontent to minimize the number of items placed in each bag, thusartificially increasing the number of bags that the shopper needs tohandle.

Problems with handling and organizing grocery bags are also reminiscentof other organizational tasks, both on the domestic front and in theworkplace, where normally disparate or loose items beg for some greaterdegree of organization or cohesion.

A growing and compelling need has thus been recognized in connectionwith providing a relatively user-friendly and easy medium forfacilitating the organization and handling of plastic grocery shoppingbags or of essentially any items that are typically difficult toconsolidate or unify.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In summary, one aspect of the invention provides an item organizercomprising: a first elongated member; a second elongated memberextending from the first elongated member; the first and secondelongated members combining to define therewithin a space foraccommodating at least portions of items; the first elongated memberacting to accommodate a plurality of looped items thereabout; the secondelongated member terminating at an introduction gap for introducinglooped items therethrough to the therethrough to the accommodatingspace; the second elongated member being elastically deformable to altera width of the introduction gap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bag carrier and loose/disparate itemconsolidator.

FIG. 2 shows the carrier/consolidator of FIG. 1 in a side elevationalview.

FIG. 3 shows the carrier/consolidator of FIG. 1 in plan view.

FIG. 4 is an elevational cross-sectional view of thecarrier/consolidator shown in FIG. 2, taken along line F-F.

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the carrier/consolidator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal and elevational cross-sectional view of thecarrier/consolidator shown in FIG. 3, taken along line E-E.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with otherand further features and advantages thereof, reference is made to thefollowing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, and the scope of the invention will be pointed out in theappended claims.

It will be readily understood that the components of the presentinvention, as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein,may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of theembodiments of the apparatus, system, and method of the presentinvention, as represented in FIGS. 1 through 6, is not intended to limitthe scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative ofselected embodiments of the invention.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearancesof the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in variousplaces throughout this specification are not necessarily all referringto the same embodiment.

The illustrated embodiments of the invention will be best understood byreference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by likenumerals or other labels throughout. The following description isintended only by way of example, and simply illustrates certain selectedembodiments of devices, systems, and processes that are consistent withthe invention as claimed herein.

FIGS. 1-6 show a bag carrier, or loose/disparate item consolidator, inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, invarious views. Reference may be made to all of these figuressimultaneously as needed.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bag carrier and loose/disparate itemconsolidator 100 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. (Hereinafter, the terms “carrier” and “consolidator”may be considered to be interchangeable.) Carrier 100, as shown, mayhave a generally C-shaped cross-section.

FIG. 2 shows the carrier/consolidator of FIG. 1 in a side elevationalview. When viewed elevationally as in FIG. 2, the cross-section is evenreminiscent of a human eye shape, but for a small gap (106) intended toaccommodate items in a manner now to be described more fully.

As shown, carrier 100 preferably includes an upper portion or half thatitself includes a long arm 102, a stub arm 104 and a gap 106 thatseparates these arms 102/104 from one another. Long arm 102 and stub arm104 each preferably extend from an entire lower portion or half 108. Theupper portion 102/104 and lower portion 108 define a large opening 110therebetween as shown.

As shown, lower portion 108 is preferably gently curved and issymmetrical about a central transverse axis F-F. The upper portion102/104 is nearly a mirror image of lower portion 108 except, in apreferred embodiment of the present invention, for some dimensionaldifferences to be described herebelow and for the introduction of gap106 between long arm 102 and stub arm 104.

Preferably, carrier 100 may be formed from a strong molded plastic orpolymeric material that is sufficient for supporting about lower portion108 a number of filled plastic shopping bags. Preferably, then, gap 106is sufficiently large to permit the introduction therethrough of loopedshopping plastic bag handles to allow the ensemble of the carrier 100and shopping bags hung thereon to be sufficiently supported and carried.Preferably, the carrier 100 will be held in the hand like an egg, suchthat a user grips around a lower surface (or underside) of lower portion108. As such, if there are looped handles of shopping bags (or otherlooped items) disposed about lower portion 108, the user's fingers maybe interspersed between, or may flank, such looped handles or items.

As such, carrier 100 is preferably sufficiently large as to permit atleast four fingers (i.e., all fingers but the thumb) of an average humanhand to grip about its entirety; for instance, four fingers maypreferably wrap around the underside of lower portion 108 as justdescribed, while the thumb may go elsewhere for additional stabilizationor support (e.g., on an upper side of long arm 102). At the same time,space 110 is preferably sufficiently large to accommodate several loopedplastic shopping bag handles therewithin which will hang about lowerportion 108. In the context of exemplary dimensions to be describedherebelow, it is indeed possible for carrier 100 to support up to fouror five completely full plastic shopping bags from a grocery store orsupermarket.

While FIG. 3 shows the carrier/consolidator of FIG. 1 in plan view, FIG.4 is an elevational cross-sectional view of the carrier/consolidatorshown in FIG. 2, taken along line F-F; both of these Figures help impartan even further appreciation of the relative dimensions of variouscomponents of carrier 100 that permit the degree of strength and supportjust described.

On the other hand, FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of thecarrier/consolidator of FIG. 1 while FIG. 6 is an elevationalcross-sectional view of the carrier/consolidator shown in FIG. 3, takenalong line E-E. These two Figures show sample dimensions (in inches),wholly illustrative and non-restrictive, that nonetheless give anindication of an eminently workable implementation that has been foundto yield impressive results. Dimensions proportionate or nearlyproportionate to those shown will of course be just as viable.

As shown in FIG. 5, an overall width of carrier 100 could be about 0.550inch, while as shown in FIG. 6 there are several varied dimensions thatwhen combined can yield favorable results. As shown, an overall maximumlength of carrier 100, end to end, could be about 3.691 inches (or inthe general neighborhood of 3.75 inches). An overall maximum length ofopening 110, on the other hand, could be about 2.332 inches, thusyielding a maximum longitudinal thickness of carrier 100 (defined in ahorizontal direction with respect to FIG. 6) of about 0.680 inch. Asignificant thickness dimension such as this, it will be appreciated,will help ensure a strong connection between long arm 102 and lowerportion 108.

Opening 110, as shown, may have a maximum transverse dimension definedin a vertical direction with respect to FIG. 6) of about 0.813 inch.Generally, a near 3:1 ratio between the longitudinal and transversedimensions of opening 110 will help ensure considerable space for loopeditems to be disposed therewithin (which will hang about lower portion108) while still allowing significant structural integrity of the entirecarrier 100. In other words, the opening 110 will as such besufficiently large to accommodate a variety of items therewithin but notso large as to compromise the overall structural integrity of carrier100.

Also, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, lower portion 108 will generally be thicker than long arm102. Sample dimensions shown are an apical thickness (i.e., a thicknessdefined at a central transverse axis of carrier 100) of about 0.250 inchfor lower portion 108 and about 0.188 inch for long arm 102. It will beappreciated that the greater thickness of lower portion 108 will helpprovide even stronger support for shopping bags looped thereabout.Furthermore, with a lesser thickness long arm 102 will present a degreeof elastic flexibility that will permit, to some limited degree, aselective widening and narrowing of gap 106 (i.e., by pulling long arm102 away from stub arm 104 and/or pushing it towards stub arm 104).

By way of other relative dimensions or considerations relating thereto,stub arm 104 need only be of minimal length as compared to long arm 102.It will be appreciated that this will be helpful in terms of permittinga reasonable degree of flexibility for long arm 102 as just described.

While reference has been made hereinabove primarily to an application inwhich plastic shopping bag loop handles may be introduced through gap106 so as to be looped about lower portion 108, there are numerousconceivable uses for a carrier 100 as broadly contemplated herein. Forinstance, carrier 100 could be used to gather up loops of wire or otherelongated material to better consolidate or unify such material. Otherways in which loose or disparate items could be consolidated or unifiedby an arrangement such as carrier 100 include, but of course are by nomeans limited to, the use of carrier 100 as:

-   -   a “clip” to unite loose/disparate items such as documents,        invoices and envelopes, to hold or mount one or more items        against a mounting medium (e.g., to clip sunglasses to a sun        visor in a car);    -   an “organizer” or “consolidator” to gather or bunch up elongated        items such as cords, wires or string;    -   a “support” or “carrier” to hang or support one or more items        such as clothes hangers or dog leashes.

The uses for an item such as carrier 100 are, in general, quite variedand numerous and merely serve to demonstrate the extremely wideversatility of a medium such as carrier 100.

Carrier 100 could alternatively be formed from metal; even here,relative dimensions such as those discussed hereinabove should stillpreferably ensure that long arm 102 has a degree of elastic flexibilityas discussed further above.

If not otherwise stated herein, it is to be assumed that all patents,patent applications, patent publications and other publications(including web-based publications) mentioned and cited herein are herebyfully incorporated by reference herein as if set forth in their entiretyherein.

Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is tobe understood that the invention is not limited to those preciseembodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may beaffected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from thescope or spirit of the invention.

1. An item organizer comprising: a first elongated member; a secondelongated member extending from said first elongated member; said firstand second elongated members combining to define therewithin a space foraccommodating at least portions of items; said first elongated memberacting to accommodate a plurality of looped items thereabout; saidsecond elongated member terminating at an introduction gap forintroducing looped items therethrough to the accommodating space; saidsecond elongated member being elastically deformable to alter a width ofthe introduction gap.
 2. The organizer according to claim 1, furthercomprising a stub member extending from said first elongated member,wherein the introduction gap is defined between said stub member andsaid second elongated member.
 3. The organizer according to claim 1,wherein said first elongated member is of a generally greater thicknessthan said second elongated member.
 4. The organizer according to claim1, wherein: the accommodating space has a maximum longitudinal dimensionand a maximum transverse dimension; the maximum longitudinal dimensionbeing about three times greater than the maximum transverse dimension.5. The organizer according to claim 1, wherein said organizer is formedfrom a single piece of material,
 6. The organizer according to claim 1,wherein said organizer is formed from a plastic or polymeric material.7. The organizer according to claim 1, wherein said organizer has amaximum longitudinal dimension of about 3.75 inches.
 8. The organizeraccording to claim 1, further comprising: a stub member extending fromsaid first elongated member, wherein the introduction gap is definedbetween said stub member and said second elongated member; said firstelongated member being of a generally greater thickness than said secondelongated member.
 9. The organizer according to claim 8, wherein: theaccommodating space has a maximum longitudinal dimension and a maximumtransverse dimension; the maximum longitudinal dimension being aboutthree times greater than the maximum transverse dimension; saidorganizer is formed from a single piece of material.
 10. The organizeraccording to claim 9, wherein said organizer is formed from a plastic orpolymeric material.
 11. The organizer according to claim 10, whereinsaid organizer has a maximum longitudinal dimension of about 3.75inches.